Snowball's medical thread

[Wolfiemix]

Re: Hello! I do have some questions! Brand new here

Wait, hold on, I meant 2 years ago! Lol, thought last year was 2019 again...

 

[Wolfiemix]

Anyone got advice for this? Snowball was fine last night and eating her nightly restocked hay pile of orchard grass. This morning, around 11ish am, I went to get her as I recently got digestive drops and needed to give her them. I picked her up but didn't see her face as I hold her back to my chest (Today is bath day. She is NASTY on her belly, I don't want that on my clothes).

Anyway, my brother saw her and pointed out that she was bleeding from her nose. I noticed blood pouring out a little, lots of dried blood on her nose, cheek, and right paw. There was also a long thin bloody strand of hay protruding from her nose. I pulled it out and it was covered in fresh blood. I have dabbed her nose with a cold wet cloth and there seems to be no bleeding anymore. I think the hay just poked her sensitive nose cavity and caused some bleeding like if you pick your nose and scratch the inner skin.

Anything I should do? Like to help? Maybe some steam therapy? Like when you breathe steam to help with nasal issues. I don't have anything that can go into her sinuses right now and everything seems good now. I just worry if the hay caused to much harm that I can't see. She hasn't been sneezing either.




If you look closely, you can see the blood on her cheek fur. I think she tried to use her paws to remove the hay but it didn't work. I don't understand how the hay could puncture her inner nostril. I do get splinters sometimes when getting hay from the bag, the hay is kinda sharp but also soft so maybe there was just a really stiff and sharp piece? But the hay I pulled out was soft and only about 2 inches long.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

This is actually one of the reasons I'm seriously considering switching to all Orchard grass instead of a Timothy/Orchard mix. I get splinters all the time, and my boys LOVE to dive into the hay piles. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that's exactly what Snowball did. Either diving in to play, or got spooked and dove in to hide.

I have had a couple of pigs with dental issues as well, and while there's no way I could ever prove it, I believe they got splinters in their mouths from the timothy hay. If they got a splinter, it would cause mouth pain which would cause them to chew funny. When they chew funny, it would cause their teeth to wear improperly and voila! Malocclusion. It would also explain Punkin's infected upper incisor, which after fighting it with everything I had for two months I ended up losing him anyway.

Like I said, I could never prove it. Just a gut feeling.

In your shoes I would make sure I cleaned off absolutely as much blood as I could, and monitor her closely for any fresh bloodstains. If it repeats, I'd get her in to a vet for a checkup. You may wish to get her in for a quick look anyway.

 

[Wolfiemix]

I feel guilty. Don’t worry, Snowball seems fine.

She has been getting better with her poops and fungal infection on her chin. I have bought stuff off chewy.com to help.

But she is in pain. I MAY be able to get to a vet now after breaking down crying in front of my mom because Snowball is suffering. Because of this, I did a ton of research on pain medications, but everything is prescription except aspirin. I bought the lowest dosage I could find, desperate to help Snowball and willing to go to extreme lengths if it means no more pain. I cut the tablet into the teeniest and smallest piece ever and if I did my math right, it was around 3-5 mg. She seemed ok on it and even slightly more perky.
Snowball started walking around, looking around, and even ran a bit. But she still showed very obvious signs of pain. Maybe it wasn’t enough, but I am definitely never giving aspirin to her again. I was and still am so scared the aspirin is doing something bad to her stomach. She even stopped eating a little. I feel so anxious and sick to my stomach, crying over the fact I gave her something possibly dangerous.



She seems fine right now, after an hour or two, eating great and just sitting in her cage. Still puffed up and labored breathing tho. Just kinda shaking a little, but this has been going on for awhile, nothing new from the aspirin. It’s obvious it did nothing, or maybe it did, idk.

I need to know she’ll be alright, I made a mistake and wont make it again. Is there anything I can give her for pain until I can save up enough for a vet visit? She can’t even use her back legs anymore...

 

[bpatters]

What symptoms does she have that make you think she's in pain?

 

[Wolfiemix]

Shaking, teeth chattering, fluffed up and hunched anytime she isn’t moving. Very quiet squeaks as she breaths out. And labored breathing when fluffed up and hunched.

The squeaks sound pained, not squeaks for food, it’s high pitched and more shriek like, but she can’t really make noise anymore so it’s so quiet.

When she is moving, which is rare, she seems fine, but it’s when she isn’t moving, which is 90% of the time, she is like this.

 

[bpatters]

She needs a vet, and prescription medicine.

 

[Wolfiemix]

I'm attempting to get a vet trip. Unfortunately my mom is against any vet care for animals except dogs or cats. She thinks just cuz Snowball is old and a guinea pig, she is fine and will just die anyway. So heartbreaking, but I'm calling a vet hospital today to ask for their treatments, exams, and pricing for small animals.